COMMENT In a democratic nation like Malaysia, democratic rights cannot be enjoyed by one party and not the other.

If Bersih 4 has proven itself to be a peaceful movement, then it is time for us to see what the rally dubbed ‘Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu’ (People's Rally) is made of.

As pointed out by PKR vice-president Tian Chua, the police should not ban the rally so long as it is peaceful. This is a democratic nation and under the Peaceful Assembly Act, people should be allowed to voice their protests peacefully.

Instead, the police should act only when there are incidents that could threaten national security. The same people who accused Bersih 4 of creating discord in the country will have to experience their own medicine.

The scope of the laws as interpreted, as usual, is very broad; therefore, if a rally like the one planned for Sept 16 gets out of hands, and people’s feelings (including those of opposition politicians, since Abdul Hadi Awang has set the precedent) are hurt, the organisers should be held responsible.

The banners that they carry will tell a tale. During the Bersih 4 rally, we had people holding banners that said race is skin deep; the blood flowing underneath the skin is the same colour.

Let us now see how the Himpunan supporters demonstrate their equality of the races, which was rightly elucidated by Nurul Izzah Anwar in her comment piece . Our cartoonist Zunar will have a great time putting together another book on ‘Yellow People, Red People’.

Come the next general election, who is it that moderate Malaysians should vote for - Nurul or the politicians who are supported by those who come for the Himpunan rally?

If the rural folks do not understand the implications of this, would our urban Malay brethren please walk the extra mile and get this message to them?

When these rally goers at the Himpunan start condemning the Christians or the Hindus, burning Bibles and parading with cow heads, would the pastors in Sabah and Sarawak please work harder to tell their flock in the interiors about this group of people who assemble on Malaysia Day?

Instead of going to the streets yet again, would the Hindraf supporters please work harder to convince fellow Hindus to vote for the people who believe in equality of the races as promoted by Nurul?

Most of us have read about the Boston Tea Party, where some White Americans tried to disguise themselves as Red Indians and they started to discard the imported tea leaves into the sea, hoping that it would trigger the anger of the Whites against the natives.

In our local context, this has happened time and again, and Malaysians are often too sharp not to pinpoint who the culprits are. Most of us can smell the rat from afar.

With this, I would say that we have to allow the Himpunan Rally to happen, because we want to see whether it will be able to garner 500,000 people like what Bersih 4 did, without paying a single sen to those who come.

This time, we shall see whether it is just one race, or it enjoys multiracial support. And, on top of that, who these people are in the eyes of their own community.

Most effective censure

Let us see whether the rally will be able to raise the dignity of the Malay community, or their actions will be condemned by my fellow Malaysians.

The Chinese and the Indians in this country do not have to react or even retaliate if this group of people start calling the Chinese ‘Babi Cina’ or the Indians ‘Pariahs’.

We have been irked enough by politicians who try to create racial tension, and trying to tear apart the fabric of our multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society.

They can do all that they like during the rally because their actions will either be accepted or censured.

After all, being Malaysia Day, this is supposed to be a day to promote national unity and mutual respect between people of different races and religious backgrounds, and the whole nation can see for themselves what these people are preaching on Sept 16 against what they are taught in their religion.

Thanks to people like social activist Marina Mahathir ( photo ) and G25 coordinator Noor Farida Ariffin, there are now enough moderate Malays and Muslims in the country who are willing to rise up, pick up the rotan and start reprimanding the bad hats in their own community for their misbehaviour.

We are thankful that moderate Malaysians have finally redeemed this nation from the hands of corrupt politicians. This phenomenon has become more apparent after the expose by the Wall Street Journal and Sarawak Report.

All the while, it is not only the Chinese and the Indians who are being bullied, but even the Malays themselves complain of being suppressed by the leaders of a particular political party.

Their identity

Most of us, like DAP’s rising star Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, want to know the identity of the organisers of Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu. These people should show their faces, unless they are part of a triad gang that cannot come under the spotlight.

At this juncture, one can only guess who the organisers are. If they are with Perkasa, I would like to ask its president Ibrahim Ali on what basis he had forged a good relationship with the Christians for Peace and Harmony Movement (CPHM) recently.

We want to know who these people are ultimately linked to. With that, the people will know how to cast their votes in the coming general election.

I am sure the whole nation wants to know who has the audacity to publish posters that are seditious in nature without the police going after them.

At least the two youths who stomped on the portraits of Abdul Hadi Awang and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had the guts to surrender themselves to the police, although their actions were by no means a crime.

These red shirt people appear to have some form of political protection. Unless we get to the bottom of it all, we will only be dealing with the symptoms without solving the root cause of the problem.

Politically linked

The fact that these people adorn themselves in red T-shirts already suggested that they are trying to suggest that a similar clash between the yellow and red supporters in Thailand can happen.

Islam’s preference would be green. Which political party has red on its emblem? If the red T-shirt rally goers turn up on Sept 16, we know that their intention is to intimidate the Bersih supporters.

Bersih 4 saw a total of at least 500,000 people. As Noor Farida has said, and I quote her observations about Bersih 4: “Great carnival atmosphere. (Ironically, someone has succeeded in uniting the races).” All we have to do is to stay cool.

For these people to achieve their objective, they would have to force one out of every six party member to flood the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Can that happen? Let’s keep our fingers crossed, watch and pray because only God can allow it to happen if he chooses to do so.

But one should not forget the Petty Traders Association president and franchisor of Sekinchan Ikan Bakar Jamal Mohd Yunos, who is currently also the Sungai Dua Umno division leader, had promised several years ago to rally 65,000 people at Stadium Bukit Jalil a month after Bersih 3, but it never materialised.

What make us think that there will be 500,000 red T-shirt supporters on the streets of Bukit Bintang to give their support to the honourable Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ( photo ) when he has been facing a confidence crisis since the expose?

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.